Accuracy in place-kicking is an essential ingredient of success in the sport of football, as it is played under professional and amateur American rules. This kick is employed in actual play with one player assisting the kicker by supporting the football in a slightly inclined upright position by pressing its upper tip downwardly with his index finger. The lower tip of the ball engages either the playing field (under professional rules) or a platform "tee" (under amateur rules).
To obtain expertise in place kicking, it is necessary to spend a great deal of time in practice. However, it is an inefficient use of manpower in practice sessions to dedicate a player simply to hold the ball for the place-kicker, particularly since little skill or practice is necessary to perform the holding function. If the kicker wishes to practice on his own away from the team, a holder will be unavailable, by definition.
For this reason, a wide variety of devices for holding the football during place-kicking practice have been proposed, but none are known to have enjoyed wide commercial success.
Prior developments in this field will be generally illustrated by reference to the following patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 4,634,122 Kline 01/06/87 3,762,706 Cavett 10/02/73 4,632,395 Ferrebee 12/30/86 3,462,145 Shirley et al. 08/19/69 4,546,974 Brown 10/15/85 3,439,916 Kopp 04/22/69 4,477,077 Ferrebee 10/16/84 3,105,686 Elsea 10/01/63 3,897,948 Gerela 08/05/75 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,632,395, 4,546,974, 3,462,145 and 3,105,686 show football tees where the ball support has ground spikes to hold the device secure.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,634,122, 3,897,948, 3,439,916, 4,477,077 and 3,762,706 teach football tees with flexible or adjustable upper ball supports.
None of the prior art patents describe a device which is of simple, inexpensive construction that may be used to practice for either amateur or professional ball.